Q for a Q: James Mielke departs Lumines studio for PixelJunk developer

Ex-1UP journalist turned developer James Mielke has left Child of Eden and Lumines developer Q Entertainment.

Mielke will now head to Kyoto to join PixelJunk developer Q Games, but speaking to CVG, he paid tribute to established studio figure Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

“It’s thanks to my mentor and one of my best friends, Tetsuya Mizuguchi that I was able to come to Japan in the first place. He is truly as wonderful, positive, and cheerful as you probably assume he is. He’s an amazing, positive force who helped me keep my head on straight in stressful times.

“No problem was ever too great to put a wrinkle in his smile. I guess he saw something in me or my editorial work that compelled him to invite me to work on Child of Eden, before handing me the keys to the Lumines franchise, which we – I like to think – successfully rebooted with Electronic Symphony.”

He added: “To be clear, Q and I are parting company on the best of terms. For a lot of reasons I won’t bore you with the time felt right to shift gears and move forward.”

“Ultimately, I have decided to stay in Japan for the time being, relocating to Kyoto. I plan to announce my next adventure shortly, which is something I’m very excited about.”

Mielke will join up at Q Games as a producer on an unannounced project.